Monday, December 23, 2013

A bit busy now to try and compile a top tracks of 2013 list, so I'll just post my favorite of them all right now. To me, "Third Man" has it all - a great ELO-inspired melody and effects, clever lyrics, and a spoken-word interlude from Harry Potter himself. What more can you ask for? (OK, not having to look at that naked guy jumping over a wicket for the next four minutes would be nice).

What was your favorite power pop tune of 2013? Let me know in the comments.

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Now you see why I changed the rules on VA albums. And yes, there are a couple of albums in here that were released in 2012, but I didn't hear them until 2013 and/or they didn't gain a lot of traction in the power pop community until this year. The bottom half (51-100) can be found here.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

It's time again for the year-end list! One change I've made from previous years is that I'm considering Various Artists (VA) releases for the Top 100. In years past, I had basically ignored them at year's end, but this year there are a couple I feel need to be considered among the year's best and you'll see them when the top half of the list is posted. Here's the bottom half:

Monday, December 16, 2013

Before I drop the year-end lists later this week, I felt I had to get one more release in under the wire since it'll place highly in top EPs of 2013. Moore is Aiden Moore, a NYC folk musician who ended up writing some pop songs over the last few years while working on his folk album. If The Great Escape is any indication, Moore might want to concentrate on the poppier side of things. With a sound that's comprised of a mix of Jellyfish, Ben Folds, Coldplay and similar to indie power pop artists like Kevin Martin (of last year's great Throwback Pop EP) and Josh Fix, Moore has cranked out a top-notch piano-pop EP. The title track opens with a bit more synth than piano, but has an infectious chorus which you'll eventually surrender to. But "Table Talk" is the real triumph here - a catchy and clever piano-based number that's one of my top tracks of the year and which would be more than worthy of some of the artists name-dropped earlier in this piece. And the following track, "Celebrity Crush". isn't much of a comedown from "Table Talk", with its own sharp set of hooks.

Meanwhile, the bouncy "In Your Head" earns the Jellyfish comparisons, and "Crazy Kinda Cool" maintains the quality with its Blue/Mike Viola vibe. Moore slows it down a few notches on the closing near-ballad "Clicks and Clanks", and while it doesn't reach the giddy highs of the rest of the EP it's still a pretty darn good track. With the likes of Mumford & Sons seemingly turning everyone with an acoustic guitar into a folkie these days, my (admittedly biased) advice for Moore is to zag in the pop direction while everyone's zigging in the folk direction as this is as good a pop debut as I've heard in 2013.

Thursday, December 05, 2013

The Allrightniks-Three. Wasting no time after regaling us with an EP released early this year, The Allrightniks are back with their third EP cleverly titled "Three". This time around, they make a couple deviations from their Spongetones-styled power pop. For example, "Delaplane" is a bluesy, swamp-rock ode to the Virginia town in their neck of the woods, and "Moonshine" follows in a similar vein. But their trademark British invasion pop shines on the opener "Would've Already by Now" and "Until I Get to You". And the Big Star-esque "Something to Believe In" is another standout. Here's looking forward to EP #4.

Lamar Holley-The Color of Day. Also returning to our pages (albeit after a longer absence) is Salt Lake City's Lamar Holley, whose The Color of Day is his full-length followup to 2009's Confessions of a College Student. This one picks up where the last one left off with more of his quirky "theater-pop", although the college student of the debut if now finding his way in the world. "Planet Buzz" sets the tone, a cross between a Broadway/Vaudeville intro with a commercial jingle, while the acoustic guitar-based "Roller Coaster" channels Jon Brion circa the I Heart Huckabees soundtrack. "One and One" is delicious piano pop, "Acting in Love" is a highly catchy number about an actor falling in love with his leading lady, and "Are You Really Mine?" is a beautiful piano ballad. Elsewhere, the delightful indie pop of "Holding On, Holding Back" with its boy/girl harmonies and the bouncy "Joe" round out the disc nicely. So in this holiday season, add some Holley to your home.